My Father's Gun: One Family, Three Badges, One Hundred Years in the NYPD

As another "cop's Kid" I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book. I put off buying it and then after buying it, I put off reading it because I was too afraid the author might actually succeed in portraying the Dualistic nature of Law Enforcement families: Passionate yet cold as ice, Caring and loyal but unable to reveal that to their own families, loving and yet painfully distant. Brian MacDonald captured all of this and it did break my heart at times to read this book but the reading of it was the cheapest Therapy I've ever paid for since by the end, I felt I had exorcised some of my own demons. However, don't let all this maudlin exposition fool you, this is a tight, very well-written and sparse memoir that succinctly encompasses three generations of "Mick Yorkies" or New York Policemen. As skilled as MacDonald is at presenting the details of how their involvement in the NYPD shaped the lives of his Grandfather, Father and Brother, he also shows with equal justice exactly how that Civil Service provided these Irish men with different social status from generation to generation. That he does so without resorting to the "Dirty Mick" cliches when discussing Tammany Hall is a remarkable accomplishment that most modern and rather Self-hating irishmen of our day cannot avoid in their haste to assert their own rising social status and to distance themselves from their Father's or Grandfather's hard choices after emigrating.In addition to providing the reader with a whirlwind education in the history of the NYPD as well as the history of the Irish in the NYPD, Macdonald also does something quite mystical: He successfully evokes all those Irish Cop Archtypes we grew up with and gives them the weight of real names, true war stories and personal remembrance. At one point I noticed there were tears on my face when something he wrote caused me to vividly recall the smell of my Dad's gun belt and the crinkly sound of its leather as he slid it off and up unto a shelf in a locked closet each night. He also caused me to cry in the last few pages as he offers a faint but sincere apologia for the distance that Cop's keep from their own children when he relates a gut-wrenching incident from his own Brother's troubled relationship with his daughter.All in all, this book is a love-letter I could never write to all the men, and there are many, in my own family that had to leave in the middle of family gatherings to handle some case and to the men who didn't tell us they loved us very often until after they retired because their upbringing and their career-path propelled them in a direction away from open expression of joy and robbed them of some of the contentment that they earned. If you're are a proud son or daughter of a Cop, you'll love this book. If you're an angry son or daughter of a Cop, this book might help you see into their world. That it was written by the son who didn't become a Cop makes it only more poignant

It's been a long time, if ever, that a book such as this has reached so far into my heart. Anyone who has grown up in the 60's and in a small bedroom community of NYC cannot deny the truths revealed in this book. It is one of the best examples of an author not only laying his heart open but of his search for why we become who we are. The author does a splendid job of taking us down the main street of hometown USA and while whiling away the time in such an Eden, weaves the rich history of his family and the NYC police force. Thank you Brian McDonald, for capturing the Pearl River of my own youth and for giving us the world readership the background that brought you to those moments and beyond.

Brian McDonald touches the heart of any family who struggled to rise above its roots. That the family was a cop family makes it even better. As one of the " Greatest Generation", I could understand the trials and tribulations of the three generations depicted in this book. Its easy to read and while your reading you'll find it easy to laugh and cry with the McDonald clan. I can't say enough about " My Father's Gun".

Brian McDonald has given us a picture of 3 generations of a police family.He gives accounts from a number of war stories both humoruous and tragic. He seems to have the ability to touch a number of emotions in this book. "My Father's Gun" goes beyond cop stories to interpersonal family dynamics. Brian clearly shows us how being a cop effects the entire family. It was a great read , I couldn't put it down. I am looking forward to another book by Brian McDonald.

Brian McDonald has captured with openness, in parallel to gripping police stories, the conscience of boys and men, our human frailties and our self-doubts. He is frank and not confessional. Having lived through similar and analogous experiences I could not (nor could anyone with heart) help but be captured by his forthrightness and enthralling writing style. I laughed out-loud while reading alone and cried in crowds. This book caused me to reflect deeply on fathers/fatherhood, family and what big brothers mean. A must read! I recommend it to all my friends and family.